Synopsis
Arizona Wakefield was a beat without a melody. Living a half-breathing life in a half-finished neighborhood with parents who always wore half-hearted smiles, the high school senior only had one thing that let her color outside her family’s perfectly drawn lines—her drums.
Jesse Barringer was a song without a chorus. The son of a washed-up rock star who’s also one hell of a deadbeat dad, he was given two things from his father—musical genius and a genetic link to the bipolar disorder that drives him mad.
One night in a garage at the end of a cul-de-sac in the middle of a bankrupt California neighborhood, Jesse’s melody found Arizona’s rhythm. An angry boy with storm-colored eyes found a blonde angel in Doc Martens with missing lines in her own story. Where her rhythm stopped, his words took over, and together, they wrote one hell of a story.
** Drummer Girl is a mature YA/New Adult romance that touches on mental health, drug abuse and includes mature sexual situations.
About the Author:
Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, The Girl I Was Before, Wild Reckless, Wicked Restless, In Your Dreams, The Hard Count, Hold My Breath, and A Boy Like You.
A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.
When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).
A coming-of-age romance inspired by Great Expectations
BRED by GINGER SCOTT
Publication date: May 10, 2019
Series: Standalone
Genre: mature YA
Synopsis:
My life was irrevocably changed the moment I stepped foot inside Elena Alderman’s grand front doors. A lifeless tomb on the edge of Chicago’s Southside, the Alderman home sat in one of the city’s oldest and wealthiest neighborhoods, and Elena Alderman was the queen.
She was also mad.
Not the kind of madness that’s readily apparent. No, her psychopathy was far more surgical—more…insidious. She was surrounded by beautiful things—most notably her grand piano and her adopted son, Henry.
I fell in love with both.
My gift blossomed when my fingers touched her black and white keys. But my life began when I became haunted by the boy. Henry Alderman was a handsome blend of arrogance and seduction, and as we grew up together, I found it more and more impossible to separate him from my thoughts. I envied his life. I imagined how my name—Lily—would look with his. I became his closest friend…and more. I gave him my kiss, locked away his secrets, and loved him even when it was hard to.
But we were just a game. Elena Alderman made the rules. And when she decided to change them, she broke everything.
Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling, Goodreads Choice Award and Rita award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, This Is Falling, Wild Reckless, The Hard Count, Cry Baby and Bred.
A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for a hella long time. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.
When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).
Henry has been bred to win…with room for very little else.
It really guts me to say that I didn't care for this book like I'd anticipated, but I always strive to write an honest review and unfortunately that's how I feel. A modern YA reimagining of the classic Dickens novel, Great Expectations sounded so fresh and exciting. And of course, I'm a big fan of Ginger Scott's writing, so chances were good that this would be a big hit for me. Keep in mind most of my problems were subjective, so you may have a completely different experience. I'm going to skip the plot summary and just explain my personal difficulties with the story.
The love interest Henry Alderman is a troubled kid who lives in a toxic environment. Naturally that has molded him into the kind of person his mentally unstable, manipulative adoptive mother has strived for. Yes, she actually aims to have a cold, calculating son to take over her business when the time comes. She controls every aspect of his life, and removes his personal choices and freedom in pursuit of her end goal. So while I didn't care for Henry's attitude and behavior towards the heroine, I withheld my judgement for the majority of the book as I waited for his character to show signs of growth from his starting point. But I think this was where it went wrong for me. While I understood how he came to be this way since we first met him at the end of junior high school, he stayed consistently subservient to Elena, and remorseless about the often cruel things he did.
[...] Henry is nothing like me. He’s broken in a different way, and he doesn’t feel things like pressure or guilt. That much I know. He barely feels at all.
The romance is very slow burn. If you're looking for that type of romance, this could very well be the perfect read for you. The first 70% or so of the book is Lily and Henry growing up together, their school interactions, and in my opinion a pretty unhealthy friendship. Henry goes beyond insensitive and often humiliates or hurts her, but she continues to make excuses for him and forgive despite his lack of compassion.
He isn’t sorry. He’s never really sorry about anything. That’s the man he’s becoming, and I hate that I still like him so much.
There were a couple points where she distanced herself from him out of hurt and realizing that he couldn't return her romantic feelings, but as soon as he crooked his finger at her, she would be drawn back in. There was a lot of back and forth between them. He'd soften a little, she'd get her hopes up for more, and then eventual disappointment. One or the other would get pushed away, only for the cycle to begin again. So when she finally did break his resistance and they started their romantic relationship so far into the book, I wasn't rooting for them. I actually felt as if she was being foolish and setting herself up for heartbreak. Even with almost only 10% of the story left, Henry was writing himself notes to remind himself to stay faithful to her while they were separated. That didn't really inspire confidence in his ability to now make mature, empathetic choices.
Henry failed to fight for Lily when it came to Elena. For their right to be together. There was no sacrifice on his part which is what someone does if they are truly in love. His obedience to Elena was only changed when outside forces intervened, and that was pretty disappointing. That would have raised my opinion of him greatly if he had refused to allow her abuse to continue, because really, he didn't even want any part of the company she planned to pass down to him. So what exactly did he have to lose?
Lily for the most part was a likable character, though she often made immature choices and let her emotions get the better of her. The influence of Elena and the privileged attitudes she was immersed in had a negative effect on her at times. This, along with other things I mentioned align with things that were inspired by the original characters they were modeled after, but in this modern setting I guess it didn't translate well for me personally. Henry is like the spoiled and cold Estella, Elena is the eccentric, insane Mrs. Havisham, and Lily is the enamored Pip who strives hard to improve himself. One thing I will say is that I didn't see the twist coming at the end, and it made me hate Elena even more which I didn't think was possible. Just when you thought she couldn't sink any lower, she proved you wrong.
To sum things up, I think fans of the original classic will find more to enjoy here, or people who are looking for an angsty slow-burn teen romance. It wasn't the perfect fit for me, but I remain a loyal Ginger Scott fan and look forward to what she has to offer next.
The stunningly original, must-read fantasy of 2018 follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world…or doom it.
When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed…unless the trials kill her first.
A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchableuntil her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.
As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world—and of each other.
Claire Legrand used to be a musician until she realized she couldn't stop thinking about the stories in her head. A native Texan, she is now a writer and librarian living in central New Jersey.
Her first novel is THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, one of the New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2012. She is also the author of THE YEAR OF SHADOWS, a ghost story for middle grade readers, WINTERSPELL, a young adult re-telling of The Nutcracker, and SOME KIND OF HAPPINESS, a middle grade story about mental illness, family secrets, and the power of storytelling. SOME KIND OF HAPPINESS is a 2017 Edgar Award nominee and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2016. Her latest novel, FOXHEART, is a fast-paced fantasy-adventure and a 2016 Junior Library Guild selection. She is also one of the four authors behind THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, an anthology of dark middle grade short fiction that was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Bank Street Best Book, and among the New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2014.
Coming up for Claire is FURYBORN, the first book in the Empirium trilogy, due out May 22, 2018, followed by SAWKILL GIRLS in fall 2018, and THORNLIGHT, a companion novel to FOXHEART, coming in winter 2019.
Visit Claire at claire-legrand.com and at enterthecabinet.com.
Her power was not an intangible thing, a trick of the mind. It was the power of the world itself, and all that lived inside it. And only I, she thought, can tell it what to do.
Furyborn gives you a world filled with magic and mystery. A distant land where villains are saviors, and angels are monsters. Two queens will rise. The Sun Queen who would bring light into the darkness, savior of humankind and elemental magic. And the Blood Queen, The Lady of Death, The Kingsbane. They're destined to bring ruin and salvation, foretold by the angel Aryava. The only question was, when?
This is an epic fantasy unlike any you've read before. The plot is so detailed and incredibly fantastical, it will sweep you away from the very first pulse-pounding pages. The prologue throws you right in the middle of the action, and the desperation of the characters is so palpable, it will grab hold of you and refuse to let go. The struggle between good and evil is a strong theme; in the fight against the angels and the Empire, and the internal struggle within both of the heroines. Eliana and Rielle both grapple with the duality of their morals, their conscience, and their loyalty.
Rielle Dardenne is blessed with the ability to control all of the elements in the Empirium, but lives in fear of being discovered. There have been signs that the prophesy of the two queens is almost upon them, and the kingdom of Celdaria will look at her with suspicion and distrust if they learned of her unimaginable power. But she's impulsive, and simmering with impatience over being suppressed for so long by her father. One wrong move, and an attack on Prince Audric forces her hand in revealing her true self. Now she'll be forced to prove that her heart and intentions are pure.
During the Angelic wars, the seven saints defeated the angels by opening a doorway into the Deep, and sealing them behind a great gate. They were locked away, with many years of peace ahead, but they would not be imprisoned forever. Rielle will soon discover that one sinister angel in particular somehow has his sights set firmly on her and the potential of her power. In the privacy of her mind, he places doubts about her loved ones, and feeds the fire of her anger. Corien was a truly menacing and disturbing villain. I can't say I really understood her failure to tell someone that he was communicating with her once she knew what he was. Maybe it was his ability to see her weaknesses and exploit them. Or maybe the praise she received from him filled a hole that was left hollow for so long. But as she was put through seven trials to prove her skills and intent, that voice in her head only got stronger and louder.
I want… I want. I crave. I hunger.“I want so many things,” she whispered, “and none of them are very good.”
I've been seeing a lot of people say that their favorite of the two young women was Rielle, but personally, I was drawn to Eliana and her storyline the most. Eliana Ferracora was the Dread of Orline. A deadly assassin who sold her soul every day for the safety and protection of her family. Her mother and brother are the only things of importance in her ravaged world, She's lost hope for herself, but will never give up fighting for their future. If she has to lie, cheat, or kill, she'll do it. Without hesitation.
After her first kill at the age of 12, and since then, doesn't allow herself the luxury of guilt or remorse. Those weaknesses are tucked away in a neat little box never to be heard from again. Survival is her ultimate priority. Eliana was a cold and hard character, but understanding her motivations, and seeing the selflessness that she showed in those rare moments made me believe that the Empire hadn't hadn't completely ruined her. She would need faith to make the right choices, to use her gifts to fight for the weak and helpless rather than throw them to the wolves. And speaking of wolves....that brings me to the Wolf.
The Wolf is a character you can't help but admire, as the second in command to the leader of the resistance. He seems noble, strong, brave, but like both women, much more complex than he first appears, with layers that haven't even begun to have been pulled back.
“Dread,” he murmured, his breath caressing her cheek, “is only a feeling, easily squashed. But wolves, my dear, have teeth.”
Both Eliana and the Wolf were a well oiled cog on opposite sides of the war. Unlikely allies, but not necessarily friends, the reluctantly made a mutually beneficial bargain that would further their own agendas. They clashed and butted heads, but fought together like a perfectly synchronized machine. And they were more alike than either would care to admit. I desperately wanted both of them to find a little peace, even if for a moment. His deepest, darkest scars that have yet to be revealed, and I'm so eager to unravel his secrets.
It would be impossible to adequately describe the depth of the characters, or the intricacy of the world building. And I wouldn't want to. You need to discover this awe inspiring world for yourself. There will be terror, despair, heartache, and loss. But there is also love, hope, resilience, and courage. So why not five stars? That was my original rating, but I did have a minor issue with the alternating storylines feeling too jarring. It would have been easier to transition if we got to spend more time in each place, say three or four chapters instead of one before the switch. It was honestly a noticeable adjustment for a decent chunk into the book. However, that being said, this is still undoubtedly a top favorite for me this year, and after that action packed ending, I'm going to be counting down the days until I get my hands on the next installment. Don't walk....RUN now to get your copy of this book.
“We survived the end of the world, you and I, we’ll survive this too.”
**Note: There is romance in this book, and more sexual content than your average YA fantasy. The characters are in the 18 year old range, but it reads more like a new adult based on the explicitness.
From mortal enemies to unexpected allies, two teenagers try to protect everything that matters most.
Ella Harper has met every challenge that life has thrown her way. She’s tough, resilient, and willing to do whatever it takes to defend the people she loves, but the challenge of a long-lost father and a boyfriend whose life is on the line might be too much for even Ella to overcome.
Reed Royal has a quick temper and even faster fists. But his tendency to meet every obstacle with violence has finally caught up with him. If he wants to save himself and the girl he loves, he’ll need to rise above his tortured past and tarnished reputation.
No one believes Ella can survive the Royals. Everyone is sure Reed will destroy them all.
They may be right.
With everything and everyone conspiring to keep them apart, Ella and Reed must find a way to beat the law, save their families, and unravel all the secrets in their Twisted Palace.
Ella and Reed's story has been such an unpredictable and thrilling ride. After the stunning ending to Broken Prince, I was desperately waiting to get my hands on this book to finally get some answers and some closure. This is the kind of series that will knock you right on your ass the minute you think you have the direction of the plot pegged. You sit and analyze everything you read and come up with so many theories, that you end up right where you started and begin again. Twisted Palace didn't have that same shock factor that I've come to expect, but I enjoyed myself all the same.
Reed and Ella have struggled to accept, love, and forgive and are finally at a place when they are confident in each other. They've never had it easy, despite their lavish and luxurious home, but they know they can face anything as long as they stand strong together.
This house is ridiculously large, ridiculously beautiful, but everyone inside of it is so messed up. Including me. I guess I really am a Royal.
Just when Ella has found comfort and a place of belonging in the Royals household, everything is threatened once again. On top of that, Reed is preparing for the fight of his life, and their desperation grows by the minute. Now when they need each other more than ever, they're finding it difficult to look into the future without fear. Their hope is dwindling fast, and the family may very well be torn apart.
We’re just a tangle of wild, hopeless emotions trying to find peace with our bodies. No matter how hard we try to forget, we can’t.
I'm not going to expand on what happens much more. This is the type of book that you really can't go into detail about the plot. I will say that there were several things that didn't get enough attention in my mind. For anyone who has read the book, see the spoiler. (view spoiler)[We never get a concrete answer whether or not Dinah really did plot to kill Steve. Gideon's predicament with Dinah was completely skimmed over and the resolution so fast and convenient at the end it made my head spin. The twins very minimal appearances, if you blinked you almost wouldn't see them. And Wade and Val? Call me crazy, but the thought of them together really grew on me. I was really hoping for some development and details of how these two connect, but once again we were given the bare bones of that while the focus was on Reed's case. I felt like there was a lot of time in the middle of the book that started to feel like you were just waiting rather than racing. (hide spoiler)]
There was certainly somewhat of an unfinished feeling to things, but there is talk of Easton getting two books of his own, so hopefully we will get more insight about things left unsaid in the future.
While this one was missing some of that "wow factor" that the other two had in spades, Reed and Ella have come a long way from the bitter rivals they were in the early days. They've both grown and matured so much, and it was especially evident in Reed. His anger, and sense of entitlement has fallen away and you really see him make some tough choices that I couldn't imagine him making in the past. I loved seeing that. And Ella was just as strong as ever, if not stronger. She had a tendency to run when in a tough situation, but when tempted to do so again, she stayed and faced her fears.
Erin Watt knows how to write characters that draw you in and won't let you go. As many more books as they plan to write, that's how many I'll be reading. It's just that simple.
Ella Harper is all I’m ever going to see, because she’s my future. She’s my steel and my fire and my salvation. She’s everything.
From wharf fights and school brawls to crumbling lives inside glittery mansions, one guy tries to save himself.
Reed Royal has it all—looks, status, money. The girls at his elite prep school line up to date him, the guys want to be him, but Reed never gave a damn about anyone but his family until Ella Harper walked into his life.
What started off as burning resentment and the need to make his father’s new ward suffer turned into something else entirely—keep Ella close. Keep Ella safe. But when one foolish mistake drives her out of Reed’s arms and brings chaos to the Royal household, Reed’s entire world begins to fall apart around him.
Ella doesn’t want him anymore. She says they’ll only destroy each other.
She might be right.
Secrets. Betrayal. Enemies. It’s like nothing Reed has ever dealt with before, and if he’s going to win back his princess, he’ll need to prove himself Royally worthy.
**References to events in Paper Princess are mentioned, so if you haven't read book one, you shouldn't read my review yet.**
Enslaved. That's what this series has done to me. I'm one of the poor fangirls who naively started Paper Princess with the hope for simply a YA that could grab my attention. Consider me grabbed, handcuffed, and stuffed in a box of endless, torturous waiting just for a few more words to end my suspense. I finally got my twitching, frantic hands on this book and I was like a fiend looking for her next high. I wanted answers, damn it! And for all you out there still waiting, let me put your fears to rest. Many of the questions you have rolling around in your mind are finally going to be answered. The only problem is...you're going to have layers upon layers more to the story to keep you up at night. There's no other word but staggering for this shocker of an ending.
In an attempt to keep this as spoiler free as possible, I'm going to have to write this as more of a report of vagueness to maintain the value of the story. (#SorryNotSorry) You want to be ruined like all the rest of us, don't you?
After the horrible, climactic ending in Paper Princess, we were all left in a state of shock. Would Reed really betray Ella in that way? What would become of her after she storms out of his life and disappears? Would he find her and mend what had been broken?
The book starts you out with some immediate relief with some desperately needed information. We get Reed's POV, and let me tell you, it was just what I needed to get inside of that cryptic mind of his. We really saw a more vulnerable side emerge in this book that softened my heart towards him so much. Ella on the other hand, is one tough nut to crack. Her trust has been broken and once that's gone, she's not easily convinced that she should put herself in a weak position again. Ella is a survivor at heart, and she listens to her instincts. Her instincts are telling her that she never should have laid her heart on the line for the Royal boys. Reed in particular.
The tug-of-war between Reed and Ella
comes back once again in Broken Prince, only in a different form. It's no longer a fight for dominance in the lion's den. It's a battle to prove their true character once and for all. To make the right choices and learn from their mistakes. These boys may be filthy rich and living in the lap of luxury, but in no way does that make their lives comfortable. We learn more about their family history and the depths that the depraved people around them will sink. In their world, it's kill or be killed and these boys became ruthless for a reason. With the poor examples of both their parents, it's not hard to see why they struggled to make the right choices. But you can't help but fall in love with each of them despite their faults and weaknesses.
Ella is no stranger to adversity herself, just on the other end of the social spectrum. Reed had more financial advantages than her, but they similar in so many ways that she couldn't help but see him and connect to him at his core like nobody else could. She came into their world and shook up their lonely and bitter lives. Nothing would ever be the same again.
She brought steel and fire. She made us laugh again. She gave us purpose-at first, it was us uniting against her. Then it turned into us standing beside her. Protecting her. Loving her.
Adrenaline fueled, and set at a frenetic pace, Broken Prince is sure to keep your pulse sky rocketing from beginning to end. All you can do is hold on tight and hope that you survive the inevitable crash and burn from the ending. There's no turning back now, I'm hooked and waiting for my next piece of the story to tide me over. I can't stress enough how much I adore this series. These two authors have created characters that jump right off the pages and come to vivid life in front of my eyes. Not only the main characters, but the supporting characters as well. The storyline is so well-developed and riveting that there isn't a moment of boredom. If you haven't made your mind up to read these, take the leap and get ruined. You are not going to want to pass up this experience.
